TWI455010B - Dynamic soft keyboard for touch screen device - Google Patents

Description

Dynamic soft keyboard for touch screen device

In general, the present invention relates to the field of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in processing systems. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention are soft keyboards for touch screen devices of processing systems.

Some processing systems have a touch screen display that accepts user input by sensing a touch of the screen or by sensing the user's finger or hand approaching the touch screen. Such touch screens are commonly used in portable processing systems with relatively small displays, such as smart phones and tablets. Touch screens often use the concept of a "soft keyboard." That is, the keys of the keyboard are presented in a specific area of the touch screen, rather than a physical plastic key. However, current touch screen soft keyboards typically have these keys arranged in a fixed pattern.

In the United States, this fixed style is typically a keyboard style designed in 1873 that is substantially similar to "QWERTY" for processing systems that support English speakers. In keyboard design, alternating hands when typing is a satisfactory feature, because when one hand is typing a letter, the other hand can reach the position where the next letter is to be played. Therefore, the typewriter can enter a steady rhythm and type quickly. However, when the letter string is composed of the same hand, the chance of lateness increases, and the rhythm is destroyed, so the speed of typing decreases, and errors and fatigue increase. In the QWERTY layout, only the left hand can be used to spell out more words than the right hand. In fact, there are thousands of English Words can be spelled out using only the left hand, but only a few hundred words can be typed using the right hand. In addition, in the QWERTY layout, the vast majority of typing strokes are done with the left hand. This is good for people who use their left hand, but it is a disadvantage for those who use their right hand. However, the left-handed population accounts for only about 10% of the global population; therefore, this method is inefficient for most people.

In addition, with the widespread popularity of sending text messages on smart phones, some users may suffer repeated pressure injuries due to the same large movement of the thumb or fingers.

Therefore, providing a soft keyboard on a processing system requires a better and more efficient method.

Embodiments of the present invention overcome the shortcomings associated with touch screen input processing in current processing systems by dynamically adjusting the layout of the soft keyboard during use. By dynamically adjusting the layout of the soft keyboard, the user can input data more easily, faster, and with less physiological pressure than previous methods.

In the following description, numerous specific details are illustrated in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments. However, various embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits are not described in detail to avoid obscuring particular embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, various aspects of embodiments of the invention may be implemented using different methods, such as integrated semiconductor circuits ("hardware"), stored in a computer readable storage medium ("software"). Computer-readable instructions that are organized into one or more programs, or some combination of hardware and software. For the purposes of this disclosure, reference to "logic" shall mean hardware, software (eg, including microcode that controls the operation of the processor), firmware, or some combination thereof.

1 is a diagram of a processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In various embodiments, the processing system 100 can be a smart phone, a personal computer (PC), a laptop, a laptop, a tablet, a handheld computer, a mobile internet device (MID), or Any other stationary or mobile processing device. As shown in the simplified diagram of FIG. 1, processing system 100 includes hardware 102 (which will be discussed further with reference to Figures 7 and 8). Application 104 can be any application executing on a processing system. In various embodiments, the application can be a stand-alone program for implementing any function, or part of another program (eg, a plug-in), such as for a web browser, image processing application, game, or multimedia. application. It is well known to the operating system (OS) 106 to interact with the application 104 and hardware 102 to control the operation of the processing system. The OS 106 includes a graphical user interface (GUI) 108 for managing interaction between the user and various input and output devices. Processing system 100 includes a plurality of known input and output devices (not shown). The system can include a touch screen display 110 for displaying output data to the user and accepting input signals from the user via the touch screen. In an embodiment, the OS may include a display administrator component 112 for managing input data and output data to and from the touchscreen display 110. In an embodiment, display administrator component 112 controls the display of the soft keyboard on the touchscreen display.

In an embodiment, the GUI 108 includes a user input control component 116 for analyzing input data received from the touchscreen display. User input control component 116 can receive input data from touch screen display 110 directly or indirectly via display administrator 112. In an embodiment, during user use, the user input control component 116 can cause the display administrator 112 to dynamically change the layout of the soft keyboard on the touchscreen display.

2 is a diagram of a user input control component 116 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. User input 202 includes data representative of at least one soft key sensed by the touch screen display. The touch of a soft key represents a character in a character group. In one embodiment, the set of characters may be Latin letters and include letters, numbers, and special symbols used in English. In other embodiments, other similar alphabets used in other languages may be implemented, such as French, German, Dutch, etc., as well as languages with other letters, such as Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Korean, Arabic and so on. In other embodiments, a subset of at least one of the letter letters, such as Chinese or Japanese characters, may be used as the selected set of characters. In an embodiment, the language and/or set of characters used by the processing system may be selected by the user. In one embodiment, the processing system can support multiple languages and groups of characters, and the user can change his or her selection of the language and/or group of characters to use at any time. Regardless of the language or letter selected, for each character input, the user input control component 116 uses the character prediction component 206 and the word suggestion component 204 to process the characters. Each character input can be marked as the current character when processed.

Character prediction component 206 is based at least in part on one or more current words , the frequency of use of characters in the selected language (in this case, English), the word database 208, and the correctness of the combination of the current character and the next possible character in the selected language. Then the priority of the characters that may be entered. The word database 208 contains a list of words in the language supported by the processing system. The number of words in the word database and the supported languages are implementation dependent. Information related to the combination of characters can be obtained from the word database 208. Information relating to the frequency of use of the characters, depending on the implementation, may be stored in the character prediction component 206 or may be obtained from the word library 208.

In the embodiment, regarding the first character input, the character usage frequency table which is the first character of the word in the selected language is referred to. In an embodiment, there will be a first character frequency table for each of the supported languages. In an embodiment, for a character input following the first character of the word, a general frequency table of the characters used in the word of the selected language is consulted. In an embodiment, there will be a general character frequency table for each of the supported languages. In another embodiment, the character frequency of the first character of the word and/or the continuation character of the word may be determined only based on the word stored in the word database of the selected language, rather than the selected language. All the words.

In an embodiment, three priority orders may be determined for each input opportunity: a first priority group of characters in the character group that is most likely to be immediately following the character of the current character; and a character group that may be next to the character of the current character. The second priority group; and the third priority group of the character group that is least likely to be immediately adjacent to the character of the current character. In an embodiment supporting 26 letters of English, the first priority group may include 6 letters, the second priority group may include 14 letters, and the third priority group may include 6 letters. Numbers, punctuation, and special characters Can be defined as other priority groups. In other embodiments, other numbers and sizes of priority groups may be implemented. Regarding other supported languages, priority groups of other numbers and sizes can be appropriately implemented according to the special rules and usage of the supported languages.

Regarding the first character input of the word, the character prediction component 206 determines the character of each priority group by referring to the first character frequency table of the selected language. In one embodiment, with respect to each successive character input of the word, the character prediction component 206 refers to the word in the word library 208 starting with the previously entered character of the current word, and based at least in part on the first in the word library. The frequency at which the character is combined with the continuation character to determine the likelihood that the user will then enter the character. In another embodiment, with respect to each successive character input of the word, the character prediction component refers to a general frequency table of characters in the selected language and based at least in part on the frequency of use of the characters in the word library and/or in the The correctness of the first character in the language combined with the continuation character determines the likelihood that the user will then enter the character. The predicted character priority set 212 can be determined using the likelihood of a continuation character.

In one embodiment, the dynamic keyboard layout control component 214 accepts the predicted character priority set and dynamically rearranges the softness on the touchscreen display based at least in part on the predicted character priority group after each user input. keyboard. In an embodiment, after each user input, the dynamic keyboard layout control component 214 rearranges the display of the soft keys of the soft keyboard in accordance with the correlation so that the soft keyboard always causes the user to continue with the characters most likely to be entered. The closest location to the soft keyboard (such as the center), and the user then the most unlikely character to enter, away from the soft keyboard. (such as the center).

In an embodiment, the soft key representing the character of the first predicted character priority group may have a different size than the soft key representing the character of the second predicted character priority group. In one embodiment, the soft key representing the character of the first predicted character set is larger than the soft key representing the character of the second predicted character set. Similarly, the soft key representing the character of the second predicted character set is also larger than the soft key representing the character of the third predicted character set. Therefore, the characters most likely to be entered by the user are represented by larger soft keys, so it is easier to find and select these keys on the soft keyboard.

User input 202 can also be communicated to word suggestion component 204. The word suggestion component determines, based at least in part on the character and word library 208 that has been entered by the current word, a set of suggested words 210 that the user may attempt to enter into the processing system. In an embodiment, the suggested word can be displayed on the touch screen along with the soft keyboard. This allows the user to start typing one or two or more characters at the beginning of the word and then select one of the displayed suggested words for input to the processing system instead of entering each of the desired words. character. Suggestion word 210 contains one or more words and/or word segments.

For each word, no characters have been entered at the beginning. When this is the case, in one embodiment, word suggestion component 204 selects the most commonly used words in the language from the library of words and displays the words as suggested words 210 on the touch screen. In an embodiment, the selection of the most common words may vary depending on the user currently using the processing system. That is, the list of most commonly used words can be customized for a user. In an embodiment, the word suggestion component 204 determines from the library of words a set of words most likely to be used by the user and displays the words As the suggestion word 210 on the touch screen. The most likely words can be determined based on the strategy chosen. The number of suggested words 210 displayed depends on the implementation.

In another case, the user has entered at least one word, but the current word does not yet have a character. In one embodiment, the word suggestion component determines the suggestion word 210 based at least in part on the previous or more words and word libraries in the sentence entered by the user. In one embodiment, the word suggestion component determines which of the word libraries is most likely to be entered by the user after the previously entered word.

In another case, the user has entered one or more characters of the current word. When this is the case, in one embodiment, the word suggestion component determines from the library of words (and/or word segments) that match the characters that have been entered for the current word, and selects at least one of the subgroups of the words. For suggestion word 210.

In one embodiment, the decision of the suggested word may be remodeled over time to reflect the previous wording of the current user of the processing system. That is, the vocabulary used by the user can update the word database and influence the decision of the future suggested word. The user's common words may also include an abbreviation, a friend's name, a member's name, a popular place name, and the like. In embodiments where the character is an input to an instant messaging application, the suggested word may be determined in consideration of the intended recipient of the message typed by the user. For example, if the user types in an instant message to a friend, the suggested block can be determined at any point in the text input process. If the user types in an instant message to the family, a different suggestion block will be determined.

Dynamic keyboard layout control component 214 accepts suggested words and causes suggestions The word can be displayed on the appropriate portion of the soft keyboard or other desired location on the touch screen display. In an embodiment, the dynamic keyboard layout control component updates the display of suggested words each time the user enters a character. If the user enters the suggested word as the desired word and enters into the processing system, the user input will reflect the selection of one of the suggested words, and this information will be displayed to the administrator 112 and/or the user input control component 116. It is captured that no user is required to enter all the characters of the desired word. In this case, the selected suggestion word replaces the character entered by the user of the current word segment.

3 to 7 are diagrams showing an example of display of a dynamic soft keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an example of a soft keyboard displayed on the touch screen display 110 before the user inputs any characters. In this example, the user entry portion 302 can be used to display the characters entered by the user as input. At first, this part is blank. In the embodiment of the present example, the three sets of predicted character priority groups configured by the decision of the dynamic keyboard layout control component 214 are displayed on the display. In this example, the three sets of predicted character priority groups include a total of 26 letters of the English alphabet, sorted in the order of the frequency of the first letter of the English word. In a data set, the order is {t, a, s, h, w, I, o, b, m, f, c, l, d, p, e, g, r, y, u, k, j, v, q, z, and x}. In other embodiments that support other languages and/or alphabets, different sequences of characters suitable for the language and/or letter are used in the predictive character priority set.

In an embodiment, the first predicted character priority group may be displayed within portions 304 and 306. In one embodiment, the first predicted character priority group may display the first subgroup with the central bank at 304 on the left hand side of the central bank. On the right hand side, at 306, the second subgroup is displayed (the elements of the first subgroup are different from the elements of the second subgroup) to be divided. As in the configuration of FIG. 3, the user's left hand can easily select the soft keys of the first subgroup 304, and the user's right hand can easily select the soft keys of the second subgroup 306. In one embodiment, where no characters have been entered, the first and second subgroups may include the six characters of the selected language that are most commonly used as the first letter of the word. The language selected in the example is English, and the 6 letters are arranged in descending order of frequency of use as {t, a, s, h, w, and i}. For efficiency purposes, in one embodiment, for the right hand of the user, the first letter "t" of the first predicted character priority group that is most commonly used is displayed at a predetermined location closest to the soft keyboard (such as the center) Soft key (because 90% of the population uses the right hand). In the soft keyboard layout of this example, the soft key of the word "I" is displayed in the center of the soft keyboard. For the left hand of the user, the first letter "a" that is often used is displayed in the softest key closest to the center. Similarly, as shown, the four remaining {s, h, w, and i}, which are most commonly used in the first six letters of the prefix, surround the soft keys in the center of the soft keyboard in a relatively preferred order. It is assigned in sections 304 and 306. In an embodiment, the letter selected from the first predicted priority group is alternately assigned to the soft key between the right hand portion 306 and the left hand portion 304 of the soft keyboard. In this embodiment, the assignment of characters on the soft keyboard is biased towards the right handed user (as shown in Figure 3). In another embodiment, the assignment of the characters of the first predicted character priority group on the soft keyboard is in turn biased to the left-hand user (ie, the most frequently used characters can be assigned to the first sub-group 304, etc.). As shown in Figure 4.

In another embodiment, the division of the subgroups can be different. In this embodiment The second subgroup 306 may include the first 3 most frequently used characters (eg, t, a, and s), while the first subgroup 304 may include the next 3 most commonly used characters (eg, h, w, and i), and do not alternate between the two subgroups. In some cases, this configuration is more suitable for supporting right-handed users than the alternate configuration shown in Figure 3. This new configuration is shown in Figure 5. In another embodiment that supports a left-handed user, the first sub-group may include the first 3 most frequently used characters, and the second sub-group may include the next 3 most frequently used characters.

The second predicted character priority group may also display the third subgroup at 308 on the left hand side of the central bank, and the fourth subgroup at the right hand side 310 of the central bank (first, second, third, and The elements of the fourth subgroup are all different). As in the configuration of FIG. 3, the user's left hand can easily select the soft keys of the third subset 308, and the user's right hand can easily select the soft keys of the fourth subset 310. In one embodiment, where no characters have been entered, the third and fourth subgroups may include the 14 most frequently used of the selected languages as the first letter of the word. character. In the case where the language is English, the 14 letters are arranged in descending order of frequency of use as {o, b, m, f, c, l, d, e, g, r, y, and u}. For efficiency purposes, in one embodiment, for the right hand of the user, the most frequently used first letter "o" of the second predicted character priority group is displayed on the right hand portion 310 of the soft keyboard closest to the soft keyboard. The remaining soft keys are left in the location (such as the center). For the left hand of the user, the first letter "b" that is often used is displayed in the left hand portion 308 of the soft keyboard, with the left unsigned soft key remaining closest to the center. Similarly, as shown, 14 The remaining 12 {c,l,d,e,g,r,y, and u} of the first letter that is used frequently are placed around the center of the soft keyboard in a relatively prioritized order. .

In an embodiment, the letter selected from the second predicted character priority group is alternately assigned to the soft key between the right hand portion 310 and the left hand portion 308 of the soft keyboard. In this embodiment, the assignment of characters on the soft keyboard is biased towards the right handed user. In another embodiment, the assignment of the characters of the second predicted character priority group on the soft keyboard is in turn biased towards the left hand user (i.e., assigning the less frequently used characters to the third subset 308, etc.).

In another embodiment, the division of the subgroups can be different. In this embodiment, the fourth subset 310 may include the first most commonly used characters of the second predicted character priority group (eg, o, b, m, f, c, l, and d), and the third Subgroup 308 may include the remaining most commonly used characters (eg, d, p, e, g, r, y, and u) and not alternate between the two subgroups. This configuration supports right-handed users. In another embodiment that supports a left-handed user, the third subset can include sub-usually used characters and the fourth subset can include the remaining most frequently used characters.

In an embodiment, the third predicted character priority group can be displayed within portions 312 and 314. In one embodiment, the third predicted character priority group may be divided by displaying the fifth subgroup at 312 on the left hand side of the central bank and displaying the sixth subgroup at 314 on the right hand side of the central bank (each The elements of a subgroup are different from the elements of all other subgroups). As in the configuration of FIG. 3, the left hand of the user can select the fifth subset 312 of soft keys, and the right hand of the user can select the sixth subset 314 of soft keys. In one embodiment, there is no In the case where characters are entered, the fifth and sixth subgroups may include six characters that are least used as the first character in the words of the selected language. In the case where the supported language is English, the six letters are arranged in descending order of frequency of use as {k, j, v, q, z, and x}. For efficiency purposes, in one embodiment, for the user's right hand, the first letter "k" of the third predicted character priority group that is most commonly used is displayed in the right hand portion 314 of the soft keyboard closest to the soft keyboard. The remaining soft keys of the predetermined location (such as the center) that have not yet been assigned. For the user's left hand, the first letter "j" that is often used is displayed in the left hand portion 312 of the soft keyboard, which is closest to the center and has not been assigned yet. Similarly, the remaining 4 {v, q, z, and x} of the 6 least frequently used first letters are placed around the center of the soft keyboard in relative priority order within the 312 and 314 portions. Soft keys as shown.

In an embodiment, the letter selected from the third prediction priority group is alternately assigned to the soft key between the right hand portion 314 and the left hand portion 310 of the soft keyboard. In this embodiment, the configuration of the characters on the soft keyboard is biased towards the right handed user. In another embodiment, the configuration of the characters of the third predicted character priority group on the soft keyboard is in turn biased towards the left hand user (i.e., assigning the less frequently used characters to the fifth subset 312, etc.).

In another embodiment, the division of the subgroups can be different. In this embodiment, the sixth subset 314 can include the three most commonly used characters of the third predicted character priority group (eg, v, k, and j), and the fifth subset 312 can include the remaining characters. (for example, x, q, and z) and do not alternate between the two subgroups. This configuration supports right-handed users. Another support for left-handed users In an embodiment, the fifth subset may include sub-usually used characters and the sixth subset may include the remaining characters.

In this example of the soft keyboard layout, four additional soft keys are used to display periods, commas, capitalization selections, and input keys. In various embodiments, other characters can be displayed.

It should be noted that the distance assigned to the center of the soft keyboard by the soft key assigned to the first predicted character priority group is usually less than or equal to the distance assigned to the predetermined position (such as the center) of the soft key of the second predicted character priority group. And the distance assigned to the predetermined position (such as the center) of the soft key of the second predicted character priority group is generally less than or equal to the predetermined position assigned to the soft key of the third predicted character priority group (such as , central) the distance. In other embodiments, depending on the needs of the implementation, a different number of character priority groups (eg, only two character priority groups, four character priority groups, etc.) may be used.

Regardless of how many character priority groups are used, in embodiments of the present invention, the dynamic assignment of character to soft keys is based, at least in part, on the correlation between the characters that may be used and the predetermined position of the soft keys to the soft keyboard, such as the center. To decide.

In an embodiment of the invention, the suggested word portion 316 of the soft keyboard is displayed at the central bank. In this example, the frequently used word determined by word suggestion component 204 can be displayed as suggestion word 210. In this example, 5 words {Hi, Hello, I, We, and The} are displayed. In various embodiments, a different number of suggested words can be displayed. In one embodiment, the initial suggested word may be the most commonly used language of the selected language when no word has been entered. word. In another embodiment, the initial suggested word may be the most commonly used word previously entered by the user. In another embodiment, in response to the user's action, the user input control component 116 can cause an additional suggestion word to be displayed on the touchscreen display to give the user more selectable possible words to select.

In various embodiments, the particular configuration of portions of the soft keyboard shown in Figure 3 may vary as needed for implementation. For example, the user input portion can be located on the bottom side or one side of the soft keyboard. Suggested words can be displayed on the top, side or bottom of the soft keyboard instead of the central bank. There can be a different number of left and right hand parts and a different number of predicted character priority groups.

6 is a diagram showing an example of a dynamic soft keyboard display of FIG. 3 after a user inputs a character in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the first character entered by the user is "b". The entered "b" character is displayed in the user input portion 302 of the touch screen display. After receiving "b", character prediction component 206 determines the configuration of the soft key to be displayed in response. In the current example of using English, the character prediction component uses the general frequency of characters in English. In this example, the three predicted character priority groups include a total of 26 letters of the English alphabet, and are sorted in the order of the general frequency of any one of the letters in the English word. In a data set, the order is {e,t,a,o,I,n,s,h,r,d,l,c,u,m,w,f,g,y,p,b, v, k, j, x, q, and z}. In other embodiments that support other languages and/or alphabets, characters suitable for the different order of the language and/or alphabet will be used in the predicted character priority set.

In one embodiment, the configuration of the soft keys can be as shown and discussed above. The configuration of Figure 3, but using the frequency data, replaces the first letter frequency of the data set with the general frequency of the usage data set in the selected language. In one embodiment, this configuration can be modified by considering the combination of valid and invalid characters in the selected language. For example, after the user enters, for example, the character "b", typically the letter "t" will be in the first predicted character priority group. However, the "bt" in this example is an invalid combination of characters in English. There is no word in English starting with "bt". The character combination "bt" can constitute a fragment of an abbreviation or abbreviation. However, it is less likely for a user to enter this combination than a valid character combination. Thus, in an embodiment, the letter "t" may be included in the second or third predicted character priority group instead of the first predicted character priority group. At each user input, the character prediction component 206 determines the predicted character priority group based at least in part on the invalid or valid character combination and the general frequency of use. In this example, after "b", only the letters {e, a, o, i, r, l, u, and y} are valid in normal English usage.

In this example, after processing the input of the letter "b", the character prediction component determines that the first predicted character priority group includes {e, a, o, i, r, and l}; the second predicted character priority group includes { u, y, t, n, s, h, d, p, m, w, f, and b}; and the third predicted character priority group includes {k, j, v, q, z, and x}. Each predicted character priority group can be assigned to a soft key as shown in FIG. As discussed above with reference to Figures 4 and 5, this configuration can be modified for use by left-handed users, and/or not alternated between expected right and left hand usage.

The word suggestion component 204 determines at least in part based on the input of the letter "b" and the word library 208 to display the word as the suggested word 210. In this case, the touch screen now shows words and/or word segments {ba,bad,bag,bar, And bat}, as shown in Figure 6. In an embodiment, the suggested word may be configured such that the word or word segment that is most likely to be input next is displayed in the central portion 318 of the suggested word area 316 of the touch screen, and secondly may be displayed by the input word or word segment. In the second highest portion 320, the second word or word segment that may be input next is displayed in the second lower portion 322, the third word or word segment that may be input next is displayed in the highest portion 324, and the fourth time may be input. The word or word segment is shown at the lowest portion 326. Other configurations may also be used in other embodiments.

7 is a diagram showing an example of a dynamic soft keyboard display of FIG. 6 after a user inputs another character in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the other character entered by the user is "o". In the user entry portion 302 of the touch screen display, the entered "bo" character combination is now displayed. Upon receipt of "bo", character prediction component 206 responds to this combination of characters to determine the configuration of the softkey to be displayed. In the current example of using an English language, the character prediction component uses the general frequency of English characters.

In one embodiment, the configuration of the soft keys may be as shown in Figure 3 of the above-discussed and discussed, but the frequency data used is replaced by the general frequency of the usage data set in the selected language. One letter frequency. In one embodiment, this configuration can be modified by considering the combination of valid and invalid characters in the selected language. After each user input, the character prediction component 206 determines the predicted character priority group based, at least in part, on the inactive or valid character combination and the general frequency of use of the character combination.

In this case, character prediction after the input of the letter "bo" has been processed The component determines that the first predicted character priority group includes {t, a, o, i, n, and s}; the second predicted character priority group includes {r, d, l, c, u, m, w, f, g, y, p, b, e, and h}; and the third predicted character priority group includes {x, v, k, j, z, and q}. Each predicted character priority group can be assigned a soft key as shown in FIG. As discussed above with reference to Figures 4 and 5, this configuration can be modified for use by left-handed users, and/or not alternated between expected right and left hand usage.

The word suggestion component 204 determines, based at least in part on the input of the letter "bo" and the word library 208, the word to be displayed as the suggestion word 316. In this example, the touch screen now displays the words and/or word segments {boa, bob, boy, boat, and body}, as shown in Figure 7.

A process similar to that discussed above can be repeated for each subsequent input by the user.

In an embodiment, the configuration of the soft keys may be updated less frequently than each user input. In one embodiment, the configuration of the soft keys can be set and maintained in the order of the frequency used as the first letter as shown in Figures 3, 4, or 5. In another embodiment, to alleviate the cognitive load when the user types a message, the configuration of the soft keys can be updated after each word, every sentence, or input of each message. In another embodiment, the configuration of the soft keys may be periodically determined for the user based on the user vocabulary stored and updated in the word database. In another embodiment, each time the user uses the processing system, the user can determine the particular softkey configuration he or she likes, and can instruct the user to enter the control component to store and display the desired configuration at any time. As a user's default preference. In this scenario, there is a trade-off between improving efficiency and reducing cognitive load.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of user input control process 600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At block 602, the user input control component 116 receives the user input data 202. First, a decision is made at decision block 604 as to whether the user input material is a character representing a letter (eg, when the selected language is English or another language having an alphabet). If not, a decision is made at decision block 606 as to whether the user input data indicates a suggested word. If the user input data is not a character representing a letter or indicating a suggested word, then at block 610 the current word stored in a data storage location called a word buffer is obtained, and the word suggestion component 204 and the character prediction component 206 are reset. The soft keyboard is reset and the current word is returned. The word buffer can be used to store unfinished or completed words in a storage location accessible by the user input control component. When the user input data is received again at block 602, further operations can be performed. At block 604, if the user enters a data indication suggestion word, the suggested word indicated by the user input data is obtained, the word suggestion component 204 and the character prediction component 206 are reset, the soft keyboard is reset, and the suggestion is returned. word. When the user input data is received again at block 602, further operations can be performed.

At block 604, if the user input material is a character representing a letter, then at block 612, an unfinished word can be obtained from the word buffer, the new character being added to the suffix of the unfinished word, and the Unfinished words can be stored in the word buffer. At block 614, the character prediction component 206 determines the predicted character priority set 212 based at least in part on the unfinished word and word library 208. In one embodiment, the character prediction component operations can be implemented as follows. An unfinished word is obtained from the word buffer. In word data All words in the library that start with the unfinished word are selected. The words are sorted and grouped together according to the next character in the word immediately after the unfinished word. Groups of selected words can be classified according to specified criteria. In an embodiment, the specified criteria result in the user subsequently entering an indication of the likelihood of being a character of the next character of the unfinished word. The possible next characters can be categorized and grouped in order of preference to form a predicted character priority set 212.

At block 616, the word suggestion component 204 determines the suggestion word 210 based at least in part on the unfinished word and word library 208. In one embodiment, word suggestion component 204 can be implemented as follows. An unfinished word is obtained from the word buffer. Select all words starting with the unfinished word in the word library. These words are classified based, at least in part, on the frequency of use of the selected words. A subgroup of at least one classified word selected is returned as a suggestion word.

At block 618, the dynamic keyboard layout control component 214 updates the suggestion word displayed on the soft keyboard on the touch screen and updates the soft key configuration of the soft keyboard based on the predicted character priority group. In one embodiment, the new predicted character priority set is compared to the previous predicted character priority set. In an embodiment, the new predicted character priority set is first used to update the first predicted character priority set, followed by the second predicted character priority set, and finally the third predicted character priority set. In an embodiment, if the character priority is the same as the previous iteration, the soft key retains its current character configuration. In this case, only the soft keys of the character configuration change are modified.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a processing system 700. In various embodiments, one or more components of system 700 can be configured to Various electronic devices are described herein with reference to one or more of the operations discussed in certain embodiments of the present invention. For example, one or more components of system 700 can be used to implement the operations discussed with reference to Figures 1-8, for example, by processing instructions, executing routines, etc., in accordance with the operations discussed herein. Moreover, the various storage devices discussed herein (eg, with reference to FIG. 9 and/or FIG. 10) can be used to store data, results of operations, and the like. In one embodiment, data received from network 703 (eg, via network interface device 730 and/or 830) may be stored to be present within processor 702 (and/or 802 of FIG. 10). The memory is cached (for example, the L1 cache memory in the embodiment). These processors may apply the operations discussed herein in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

More specifically, processing system 700 can include one or more central processing units 702 or processors that communicate via an interconnection network (or bus bar) 704. Thus, in some embodiments, the various operations discussed herein can be implemented by a processor. Moreover, processor 702 can include a general purpose processor, a network processor (which processes data communicated over computer network 703), or other types of processors (including reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors or complex instruction sets) Computer (CISC)). Moreover, processor 702 can be a single or multi-core design. Processor 702 having a multi-core design can integrate different types of processor cores on the same integrated circuit (IC) die. Moreover, processor 702 having a multi-core design can be implemented as a symmetric or asymmetric multi-processor. Moreover, the operations discussed with reference to Figures 1-8 can be implemented by one or more components of system 700. In an embodiment, a processor, such as processor 1 702-1, may include hardwired logic (eg, circuitry) or microcode user input control 116, GUI 108, and/or OS. 106.

Wafer set 706 can also be in communication with interconnect network 704. Wafer set 706 can include a graphics and memory control hub (GMCH) 708. The GMCH 708 can include a memory controller 710 that is in communication with the memory 712. Memory 712 can store data and/or instructions. The data may include sequences of instructions that are executed by processor 702 or other devices included in processing system 700. In addition, memory 712 can store one or more programs or algorithms discussed herein, such as user input control 116, GUI 108, and/or OS 106, corresponding to instructions for execution, mapping, and the like. The same or at least some of the data (including the instructions and the temporarily stored array) may be stored in the disc player 728 and/or in one or more cache memories within the processor 702. In one embodiment of the invention, memory 712 may include one or more volatile storage (or memory) devices, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM). Static RAM (SRAM), or other type of storage device. Non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive, can also be utilized. Additional devices may be in communication via interconnect network 704, such as multi-processor and/or multi-system memory.

The GMCH 708 also includes a graphical interface 714 that communicates with the touchscreen display 110. In one embodiment of the invention, graphical interface 714 can communicate with touch screen display 110 via an accelerated graphics layer (AGP). In an embodiment of the invention, display 110 may be a flat panel display, such as by a signal converter, in communication with graphics interface 714, where the signal converter will be stored in a storage device such as a video memory or system memory. The image represented by the digits is converted into an image that can be interpreted and displayed by the display 110 Display signal. The display signals generated by interface 714 can pass through various control devices before being interpreted by display 110 and subsequently displayed. In an embodiment, user input control 116 may be implemented in circuitry within graphical interface 714 within the wafer set or elsewhere.

The hub interface 718 can allow the GMCH 708 to communicate with an input/output (I/O) control hub (ICH) 720. The ICH 720 can provide an interface in which the I/O device communicates with the processing system 700. The ICH 720 can communicate with the bus 722 via a peripheral bridge (or controller) 724, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bridge, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, or other type of perimeter bridge or Controller. Bridge 724 can provide a data path between processor 702 and peripheral devices. Other types of topologies are also available. In addition, multiple busses can communicate with the ICH 720, for example, via multiple bridges or controllers. In addition, in various embodiments of the present invention, other peripherals that communicate with the ICH 720 may include an integrated electronic drive interface (IDE) or a small computer system interface (SCSI) hard disk drive, USB port, keyboard, mouse Parallel ports, serial ports, floppy drives, digital output support (for example, digital video interface (DVI)), or other types of devices.

The interconnection network 722 can be in communication with an input device 726 (such as a track pad, mouse, or other pointing input device, or touch screen display 110), one or more disc players 728, and a network interface device 730. The road interface device 730 can communicate with a computer network 703 (e.g., like the Internet). In an embodiment, device 730 may be a network interface controller (NIC) with wired or wireless communication capabilities. Other devices can communicate via bus 722. Moreover, in some embodiments of the invention, various different groups A component, such as network interface device 730, can communicate with GMCH 708. Moreover, processor 702, GMCH 708, and/or graphics interface 714 can be combined into a single wafer.

Moreover, processing system 700 can include volatile and/or non-volatile memory (or storage). For example, the non-volatile memory may include one or more of the following: a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrical EPROM (EEPROM), a disc player ( For example, 728), a floppy disk drive, a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a digital compact disc (DVD), a flash memory, a magneto-optical disc, or other type of non-volatile machine capable of storing electronic materials (eg, including instructions). Readable media.

In an embodiment, the components of system 700 may be configured with a point-to-point (PtP) configuration, such as discussed with respect to FIG. For example, the processor, memory, and/or input/output devices can be interconnected by a number of point-to-point interfaces.

More specifically, FIG. 10 illustrates a processing system 800 configured in a point-to-point (PtP) configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 10 particularly shows a system for interconnecting processors, memory, and input/output devices in a number of point-to-point interfaces. The operations discussed with reference to Figures 1-8 may be implemented by one or more components of system 800.

As illustrated in Figure 10, system 800 can include multiple processors, but for clarity, only two processors 802 and 804 are shown. Each of processors 802 and 804 can include local memory controller hubs (MCH) 806 and 808 (in some embodiments, the same or similar to GMCH 708 of FIG. 7) and memory 810 and 812 coupled . Memory 810 and / or 812 A variety of different materials can be stored, such as those discussed with reference to memory 712 of FIG.

Processors 802 and 804 can be any suitable processor, such as those discussed with reference to processor 702 of FIG. Processors 802 and 804 can exchange data via point-to-point (PtP) interface 814 using PtP interface circuits 816 and 818, respectively. Each of processors 802 and 804 can exchange data with wafer set 820 via respective PtP interfaces 822 and 824 using point-to-point interface circuits 826, 828, 830, and 832. Wafer set 820 can also exchange data with high performance graphics circuitry 834 via high performance graphics interface 836 using PtP interface circuitry 837. Graphics circuit 834 can be coupled to touch screen display 110 (not shown in FIG. 10).

At least one embodiment of the present invention can be provided by utilizing processors 802 and 804. For example, processors 802 and/or 804 can implement one or more of the operations of Figures 1-8. However, other embodiments of the invention may be present in other circuits, logic units, or devices within system 800 of FIG. Moreover, other embodiments of the invention illustrated in Figure 8 may be distributed across several circuits, logic units, or devices.

Wafer set 820 can be coupled to bus bar 840 using PtP interface circuitry 841. There may be one or more devices coupled to bus bar 840, such as bus bar 842 and I/O device 843. The bus bar 843 can be coupled to other devices via the bus bar 844, such as a keyboard/mouse/track pad 845, the network interface device 730 discussed with reference to FIG. 9 (eg, can be coupled to the computer network 703) Data machine, network interface card (NIC), etc.), audio I/O device 847, and/or data storage device 848. In an embodiment, Data storage device 848 can store user input control commands 849 that are executed by processors 802 and/or 804.

In various embodiments of the present invention, such as the operations discussed herein with respect to FIGS. 1-8, may be implemented as hardware (eg, logic circuitry), software (eg, including microcode that controls processor operation, such as reference maps) The processor(s) discussed in clauses 9 and 10, firmware, or a combination thereof, which may be provided as a computer program product, for example, comprising a tangible machine readable or computer readable medium having stored thereon a program computer (eg, a processor or other logic of a computing device) to implement the instructions (or software programs) of the operations discussed herein. Machine readable media can include storage devices such as those discussed herein.

References to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" in the specification are intended to mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described with respect to the embodiments is included in at least one implementation. The phrase "in one embodiment", which may be used throughout the specification, may or may not refer to the same embodiment.

In addition, "coupled" and "connected" and their derivatives are used in the context of the description and claims. In some embodiments of the invention, "connected" may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. "Coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. However, "coupled" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but still cooperate or interact with each other.

In addition, such computer readable media can be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program can be accessed from a remote computer via a communication link (eg, a bus, a modem, or a network connection). For example, servo Transfer to the requesting computer (for example, the client).

Therefore, although the embodiments of the invention have been described in terms of the specific features and/or methods of the invention, it is understood that the claimed subject matter is not limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts disclosed are in the form of a sample of the claimed subject matter.

100‧‧‧Processing system

102‧‧‧ Hardware

104‧‧‧Application

106‧‧‧Operating system

108‧‧‧ graphical user interface

110‧‧‧ touch screen display

112‧‧‧Display administrator component

116‧‧‧User input control component

202‧‧‧User input

204‧‧‧ word suggestion component

206‧‧‧Character prediction component

208‧‧‧word database

210‧‧‧ Suggested words

212‧‧‧Predicted character priority group

214‧‧‧Dynamic keyboard layout control component

302‧‧‧User input section

304‧‧‧First Predictive Character Priority Group First Subgroup

306‧‧‧Second subgroup of the first predicted character priority group

308‧‧‧The third subgroup of the second predicted character priority group

310‧‧‧The fourth subgroup of the second predicted character priority group

312‧‧‧ Third Predictive Character Priority Group Fifth Subgroup

314‧‧‧ Third Predictive Character Priority Group Sixth Subgroup

316‧‧‧ Suggested words

318‧‧‧Central Part

700‧‧‧Processing system

702‧‧‧ processor

703‧‧‧ computer network

704‧‧‧Internet

706‧‧‧ chipsets

708‧‧‧Memory Control Hub

710‧‧‧ memory controller

712‧‧‧ memory

714‧‧‧ graphical interface

718‧‧‧ Hub Interface

720‧‧‧Input/Output Control Hub

722‧‧ ‧ busbar

724‧‧‧ Surrounding bridge

726‧‧‧Input device

728‧‧‧ disc machine

730‧‧‧Network interface device

800‧‧‧Processing system

802‧‧‧ processor

804‧‧‧ processor

806‧‧‧Local Memory Controller Hub

808‧‧‧Local Memory Controller Hub

810‧‧‧ memory

812‧‧‧ memory

814‧‧‧ peer-to-peer interface

816‧‧‧ point-to-point interface circuit

818‧‧‧ point-to-point interface circuit

820‧‧‧ chipsets

822‧‧‧ peer-to-peer interface

824‧‧‧ peer-to-peer interface

826‧‧‧ point-to-point interface circuit

828‧‧‧ Point-to-point interface circuit

830‧‧‧ point-to-point interface circuit

832‧‧‧ point-to-point interface circuit

834‧‧‧High performance graphics circuit

836‧‧‧High-performance graphical interface

837‧‧‧ Point-to-point interface circuit

840‧‧ ‧ busbar

841‧‧‧ point-to-point interface circuit

842‧‧‧ bus bar bridge

843‧‧‧Input/output devices

844‧‧ ‧ busbar

845‧‧‧Keyboard/Mouse/Track Pad

847‧‧‧Optical input/output device

848‧‧‧ data storage device

849‧‧‧User input control instructions

803‧‧‧ computer network

A detailed description is provided with reference to the drawings. The same reference numbers are used in the different figures to refer to the same or the same.

1 is a diagram of a processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram of a user input control component in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 7 are diagrams showing a display example of a dynamic soft keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a flow chart diagram of user input control processing in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

9 and 10 illustrate block diagrams of embodiments of a processing system that can be used to implement certain embodiments discussed herein.

100‧‧‧Processing system

102‧‧‧ Hardware

104‧‧‧Application

106‧‧‧Operating system

108‧‧‧ graphical user interface

110‧‧‧ touch screen display

112‧‧‧Display administrator component

116‧‧‧User input control component

Claims (20)

A method for dynamically updating a soft keyboard displayed on a touch screen display in a processing system having a touch screen display, the method comprising: receiving user input data from a user; and when the user input data indicates current a character, predicting the likelihood of at least one character entered by the user, and based at least in part on the likelihood of the at least one character entered by the user and the predetermined position of the soft key to the soft keyboard Correlation of the distance, assigning at least one character to the soft key of the soft keyboard; and updating the soft keyboard on the touch screen display; wherein the correlation includes the user being more likely to enter The at least one character is assigned to a soft key that is closer to the predetermined position of the soft keyboard than the character that the user is then less likely to input; wherein the possibility of predicting at least one character entered by the user includes Used at least in part based on one or more current characters, the frequency of use of characters in the language of choice, The frequency of the previously used character, the frequency of use of the character in the word database of the processing system, and the correctness of the combination of the current character and the at least one character in the selected language determine at least a priority of a character; assigning at least one character to one of the plurality of groups according to the priority of the decision; at least in part based on the priority group to which the at least one character is currently assigned A character is assigned to the soft key of the soft keyboard; Wherein, there are three priority groups, and the distance to the center of the soft keyboard assigned to the soft key assigned to the first priority group is smaller than the distance from the center of the soft keyboard assigned to the soft key assigned to the second priority group, and The distance to the center of the soft keyboard assigned to the soft key of the second priority group is less than the distance to the center of the soft keyboard assigned to the soft key of the third priority group. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the soft keyboard each time the user inputs a character. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning the most likely subsequent character to the first priority group, assigning the least likely subsequent character to the third priority group, and assigning the remaining characters to the first priority group Two priority groups. The method of claim 1, further comprising dividing each priority group into two subgroups, and the first subgroup of each priority group includes characters assigned to soft keys on the left hand side of the soft keyboard, And the second subgroup of each priority group includes the characters assigned to the soft keys on the right hand side of the soft keyboard. The method of claim 1, wherein the soft key of the first priority group on the touch screen display is larger than the soft key of the second priority group. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a list of suggested words on the touch screen display. The method of claim 6, further comprising, when the user input data indicates the current character, based at least in part on the one or more of the current character, any characters previously entered as the current word, and the previous For any word entered in the current sentence, and the word database of the processing system, determine the list of updated suggested words that the user may attempt to enter. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the updated list of suggested words on the touch screen display as part of updating the soft keyboard. The method of claim 6, wherein the list of suggested words includes the most commonly used words and/or word segments in the language selected. The method of claim 6, wherein the list of suggested words includes the words most frequently used by the user. A processing system comprising: a touch screen display for displaying a soft keyboard to a user and receiving user input data from the user; the user input control component is adapted to indicate the current current when the user inputs data a character, predicting the likelihood of at least one character entered by the user, and assigning the at least one character to the soft key of the soft keyboard based at least in part on the at least one character entered by the user The likelihood of the soft key being related to the predetermined position of the soft keyboard; and causing an update of the soft keyboard on the touch screen display; wherein the correlation includes the user being more likely to enter The at least one character is assigned to a soft key that is closer to the predetermined position of the soft keyboard than the character that the user is then less likely to input; wherein the possibility of predicting at least one character entered by the user includes Based at least in part on one or more current characters, selected The frequency of use of characters in the language, the frequency of characters previously used by the user, the frequency of use of characters in the word database of the processing system, and the current character and the at least one character selected for use. Determining the priority of the at least one character in the correctness of the combination in the language; the user input control component is further configured to assign the at least one character to one of the plurality of groups according to the priority of the decision; And assigning at least one of the characters to the soft key of the soft keyboard based at least in part on the priority group to which the at least one character is currently assigned; wherein there are three priority groups and reaching the softness assigned to the first priority group The distance of the center of the soft keyboard of the key is less than the distance to the center of the soft keyboard assigned to the soft key of the second priority group, and the soft keyboard of the soft key assigned to the second priority group is reached. The distance of the center is less than the distance to the center of the soft keyboard assigned to the soft key of the third priority group. The processing system of claim 11, wherein the user input control component comprises a dynamic keyboard layout control component that is updated each time the user enters a character. The processing system of claim 11, wherein the character prediction component assigns the most likely subsequent character to the first priority group, the least likely subsequent character to the third priority group, and the remaining The character is assigned to the second priority group. The processing system of claim 11, wherein the character prediction component divides each priority group into two subgroups, and the first subgroup of each priority group includes a left hand side assigned to the soft keyboard. Soft key The characters, and the second subgroup of each priority group, include the characters assigned to the soft keys on the right hand side of the soft keyboard. The processing system of claim 11, wherein the soft key of the first priority group on the touch screen display is larger than the soft key of the second priority group. The processing system of claim 11, wherein the user input control component comprises a dynamic keyboard layout control component that causes display of a list of suggested words on the touchscreen display. The processing system of claim 16, wherein the user input control component comprises a word suggestion component, and wherein when the user input data indicates a current character, the word suggestion component is based at least in part on one or more The current character, any characters previously entered for the current word, any words previously entered for the current sentence, and the word library of the processing system to determine the updated suggested word that the user may attempt to enter. List. The processing system of claim 17, wherein the dynamic keyboard layout control component causes the updated list of suggested words to be displayed on the touchscreen display as part of updating the soft keyboard. For example, the processing system of claim 17 wherein the list of suggested words includes the most commonly used words and/or word segments in the language selected. For example, the processing system of claim 17 wherein the list of suggested words contains the words most frequently used by the user.